Thursday 26 January 2012 07.19 EST
First published on Thursday 26 January 2012 07.19 EST

Best moment of menswear A/W 2012? It has to be the Prada show by a country mile. The sumptuous carpeted set; the collection itself - take particular note of top pocket adornment, polo necks and luxe coats; the headline-grabbing Hollywood A-list model casting, including Gary Oldman, Emile Hirsch, Tim Roth and the divine Mr Adrien Brody. There is no denying this was Prada's season

Caps are back! Barely a collection passed that didn't include a baseball cap. Our favourites were seen on the 'lone soldiers' in Dior Homme's army; at Lanvin; at Alexander Wang's first full menswear collection - uber-cool streetwear; and at Marc Jacobs, who drew inspiration from 90s skateboarders as well as the markets of Istanbul (hence the vivid saffron yellow). One detail to note: these caps are minimal - large trucker motifs need not apply

What does every well-dressed gentleman need? A duck- (or hound-) handled umbrella. Every exit at Burberry Prorsum carried one of these ornate brollies, bringing a touch of British humour and eccentric glamour to the ensuing downpour, and going to the top of our must-have list. The other key accessory of the season was the leather document folio. If SS12 was all about the iPad cover and new technology, then AW12 saw the designers taking us back to hard copy and the neat filing of paperwork. Or maybe, if you are cynical, you might say it has more to do with the burgeoning sales of designer SLG's (small leather goods)

Production of the week award goes to Kenzo. Showgoers were collected by rickshaws that drove them to the venue door, stopping at the Starbucks coffee stand en route to pick up a customised Kenzo thermal cup and glazed doughnut (a nod to the label's new designers' American roots - Humberto Leon and Carol Lim also design cult US label Opening Ceremony). Once inside, the industrial garage space had been given a fashion makeover with rainbow neon light arches along the mechanic's pits. Models then walked a course that took them up and down the levels of the pits until all 39 exits were lined up on the far side of the garage. Impressive stuff

Pimp your lapel! Come AW12 you will all be reaching for a little something to pin on your jacket or stuff decoratively in your top pocket. Prada led the way with an assortment of trinkets, resin pins in the shape of pistols, American footballs and crests, leather carnations that turned out to be biros, and leather card holder pocket squares. At Louis Vuitton, Kim Jones speared arrows with feather heads through jackets, scarves and blazers, and at Alexander McQueen the inspiration of the Victorian man was clear in the ornate feather pins that decorated the tailoring

Best newcomer goes to bespoke shoe makers Berluti, who showed their debut ready-to-wear collection during Paris fashion week. Entry was, Narnia-style, through an open wardrobe, into an elaborate multi-tableaux affair, featuring models lounging in ancient libraries or polishing shoes in an old-fashioned workshop-cum-banquet, where apothecary bottles mingled on the tabletop with candelabras. Artefacts of the house were used in the decor - shoe lasts of famous customers, such as Dean Martin, Gerard Depardieu and Roman Polanski, sat on plush velvet chairs alongside footwear from the new collection

Tough beauty and high drama has become the DNA of Givenchy under Riccardo Tisci's directorship. This season's ornate facial jewellery was no exception: inspired by the myth of the minotaur and the stars and stripes, Tisci decked his models in star stud earrings and heavy jewelled nose rings. This all took place in a transparent tent in the shadow of Les Invalides, home to Napoleon's golden domed tomb, bathed in a menacing red glow for the occasion

Moncler Gamme Bleu always runs with a sports theme. This season it was F1 - perhaps not as involved as previous seasons (see the hunting beagles and skiing collections), but the huge entrance hall lined with hundreds of painstakingly arranged miniature racing cars was definitely worth a mention

OK, we know that saying 'Coats are in for winter' is stating the obvious, but we'd like to draw your attention to a sub-trend within outerwear. Capes were seen at Valentino, Comme des Garcons and, perhaps most impressively, at Dolce and Gabbana, who opened their show with a pinking shears-edged black number based on a pattern owned by Stefano's father in the 1940s. The cape is having a little moment. You can blame the popularity on Sherlock Holmes, but you will need superhero strength to spend a day in this embellished golden Dolce and Gabbana number - we know, we tried it on. Capes: not for wimps

Paris wrapped up with Thom Browne's show. Never one to play it straight, Browne treated us to a peculiar outing of American football players and punks. The clothes may not be everyone's cup of tea - pink pencil skirt, anyone? But the eerily lit finale and the stage direction to models to hold their poses and terrifying stares under flicking interrogation lamps as the audience filed out only added to the drama. Photographs taken using Canon G 12